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All treaties and agreements

Treaty

Omaha at Washington, DC (1854)

In 1854 the Omaha ceded lands south of a line, keeping a northern homeland whose boundaries Nebraska v. Parker later upheld.

Signed
March 16, 1854
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 4.8 million acres
Land set aside for the nations
about 363,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On March 16, 1854, in Washington, Commissioner George W. Manypenny and seven Omaha chiefs signed a treaty. The Omaha agreed to "cede to the United States all their lands west of the Missouri River" south of a line drawn due west from near the Ayoway River. They kept the country to the north as "their future home." If it proved unsuitable, the President could assign a new location of no more than 300,000 acres. They agreed to leave the ceded land within a year of ratification.

The Supreme Court later wrote that the tribe "was destitute and, in exchange for much-needed revenue, agreed to sell a large swath of its land." The Court gave the price as $840,000, paid over 40 years. The Kansas Historical Society says Manypenny promoted allotments to individuals, with excess land bought by the government and sold to railroad companies, white settlers and speculators.

In 1865 the Omaha ceded another 98,000 acres on the north side for a Winnebago reservation. Congress later authorized sales of reservation land in 1872 and 1882. In Nebraska v. Parker (2016) a unanimous Court held that the 1882 Act "did not diminish the Omaha Indian Reservation."

Good to know. Nebraska v. Parker (2016) concerned an 1882 act of Congress, not the 1854 treaty itself.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. The Omaha Indians cede to the United States all their lands west of the Missouri RiverTreaty with the Omaha, 1854 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the Tribe was destitute and, in exchange for much-needed revenue, agreed to sell a large swath of its landNebraska v. Parker, 577 U.S. 481 (2016), Legal Information Institute
  3. did not diminish the Omaha Indian ReservationNebraska v. Parker, 577 U.S. 481 (2016), Legal Information Institute
  4. Any excess property would be purchased by the government which would sell it to railroad companies, white settlers, and speculators.Kansas Territory map (Kansapedia, Kansas Historical Society)

Research notes. The treaty text itself reserves the northern country and caps any replacement at 300,000 acres; the Supreme Court summarizes it as creating a 300,000-acre reservation, a slight difference. The $840,000 figure is the Court's. The 2016 case concerns the 1882 Act, not the 1854 treaty.

What the treaty did to the land

About 4.8 million acres given up. about 363,000 acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

What happened next

Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.

  1. 1854

    This treaty

    About 4.8 million acres ceded to the United States by the Omaha. About 363,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Omaha

    In 1854 the Omaha ceded lands south of a line, keeping a northern homeland whose boundaries Nebraska v. Parker later upheld.

  2. 1865

    Land lost

    About 181,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Omaha

    By Omaha at Washington, DC (1865)

    area 467

  3. 1874

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Omaha

    The 1899 record: “Provides for purchase of 20 sections from Omahas, upon which to locate Wisconsin Winnebagoes”

    area 570

  4. 1882

    Land record

    About 136,000 acres named in the record

    The 1899 record: “Remainder of reservation to be allotted and patented to individuals or to the tribe”

    area 637

  5. 1882

    Land lost

    About 45,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Omaha

    The 1899 record: “Provides for sale, with the Omahas' consent, of portion of their reservation lying W. of Sioux City and Nebraska railroad”

    area 636

  6. 2016

    In court

    Nebraska v. Parker

    An 1882 act opening Omaha land to settlers did not shrink the reservation, so the village of Pender lies within it.

The law behind it

The legal ideas behind the decisions, and related records without a date. Court cases and laws with a date are in what happened next, above.

  • Legal doctrine

    diminishment

    Only Congress can shrink a reservation, and courts require a clear statement; Solem, Hagen and Parker show how that test works.

  • Legal doctrine

    disestablishment

    Disestablishment means Congress ended a reservation entirely; courts require clear intent from Congress, and McGirt (2020) held the Creek Reservation was never disestablished.

  • Legal doctrine

    indian country

    Federal law defines 'Indian country' as reservations, dependent Indian communities and Indian allotments; the definition decides which government's laws apply.

Who is doing the work today

The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-omaha-1854-0611reference work
    Treaty with the Omaha, 1854 March 16, 1854. | 10 Stats., 1043.

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.